There are numerous dietary plans and methods existing in the art. Many of these systems employ complicated calorie counting techniques which require the user to track every item consumed and carefully weigh and measure each portion. Newer plans have been developed that use color coded food cards associated with a meal plan that alleviate the need for counting and tracking calories. One such prior art system comprises a foldable carrying case having a plurality of pockets and pocket inserts on and in the inside walls of the carrying case having meal insert cards each identifying a specific meal type, i.e. breakfast; and having a plurality of food cards each listing one specific food and displaying a picture of either the approximate or visual serving size of the food. The user selects food cards each listing one specific food and places them in pockets for the type of the meal. The back sides of the cards display a picture of either the approximate or visual serving size of the food identified on the card and is used to measure the amount of the food. The problem with this type of visual approximation method is that the user is forced to guess about of the amount of food based on a picture on a two dimensional card. This approximation can result in the user estimating too high and having a larger serving and too much caloric intake whereas the diet is ineffective. The converse can result in the user not receiving the recommended daily allowances proscribed in the diet plan. In addition, the diet plan is too complicated in that each individual food item has its own card which must be located and placed in a particular pocket. Since each card is typically used for one food item, a large deck of cards must be maintained, searched and stored for each meal.
Accordingly, a need exists to provide a simple and effective diet method and apparatus for ensuring that the user consumes the proper food items at the proper portion size in order to ensure a balanced diet at a targeted daily caloric intake level.